Works to Tackle Congestion Start on Britannia Road This Weekend
Bedford Borough Council will be starting improvement works to reduce congestion on Britannia Road, a well-known traffic hotspot, this weekend as part of the Transporting Bedford project.
Britannia Road runs past Bedford Hospital South Wing, and links Ampthill Road and Kempston Road. These works will widen the road and create extra lanes, providing more space for traffic, and deliver major changes to the road layout to help the traffic flow better.
These include moving the existing traffic lights and crossing to the junction with King’s Place, and upgrading all the lights along this road so they can ‘communicate’ and keep the road moving. There will also be changes to layout of the main Hospital car park and existing drop-off areas. This will all help to improve traffic flow down Britannia Road.
The works will begin this weekend and will be complete in early 2020.
During the works, Britannia Road will be open one way to traffic going from Ampthill Road to Kempston Road. There will be a clearly signed diversion route in place throughout the works, around Kingsway and St Mary’s Street.
These works are not expected to have any operational impact on Bedford Hospital, and the Council is working closely with them to minimise the impact on patients and staff.
Cllr Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Highways said, “We have to make a start on these works this summer to ensure we deliver this highways improvement project across our town centre, on time and in budget. It is a condition of the external funding we have secured that we have to start delivering these works now, or we risk losing the money and being unable to deliver the project’s benefits.
“We apologise for any inconvenience these works cause. This is a busy route into town, which is why we have found a way to keep it open while carrying out these crucial works. “
Transporting Bedford 2020 is an £18million project to tackle congestion hotspots in Bedford, funded by both Bedford Borough Council and £15.5M funding from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership, through the Local Growth Fund and represents the largest ever investment in Bedford’s roads.
Find out more about the project at www.bedford.gov.uk/transportingbedford2020
